memory_alphafandomcom-20200223-history
Quantum torpedo
A quantum torpedo is a tactical weapon used at least by the Federation Starfleet and the Cardassian Union. They are considered an upgrade to the standard photon torpedo. ( ) Deployment began throughout Starfleet in the beginning of 2371. ( ) Quantum torpedoes have been carried aboard ''Defiant''- and vessels, the , and the Federation attack fighters. The Cardassian mobile weapon Dreadnought carried quantum torpedoes. The Cardassian torpedoes would have needed modifications in order to be launched from a Federation torpedo launcher. ( , , ) Federation quantum torpedoes apparently use the standard photon torpedo casing. ( ) :Nog modifies unspecified torpedoes with photon torpedo casings in this episode. When they are fired the effect is identical to the quantum torpedo. A line in suggests the quantum torpedo might be some type of plasma torpedo as plasma warheads carried onboard the ''Defiant were mentioned in the episode.'' Even a direct hit from a quantum torpedo might not destroy solid neutronium. ( ) Applications In 2371, after hijacking the and taking it deep into Cardassian space, Thomas Riker utilized the ship's quantum torpedoes against a modified cruiser just outside the Orias system. The Defiant fired four torpedoes at the cruiser; two hit the ship's ventral hull, and two hit the tail. The damage from these four torpedoes knocked the ship's defense systems offline and caused the loss of main power. ( ) The following year, Captain Sisko utilized the Defiant's quantum torpedoes against the Klingons, as he attempted to rescue the Detapa Council from the Cardassian ship Prakesh. ( ) Sisko ordered Chief O'Brien to rig the Defiant's two atmospheric probes with quantum torpedo warheads. ( ) After he traveled back to Earth, in 1947, Quark offered to teach General Rex Denning how to make quantum torpedoes – for the right price. ( ) By mid-year, the had received a major upgrade, including a full complement of quantum torpedoes. Admiral Leyton suggested that Captain Benteen should use the increased firepower provided by the Lakota s quantum torpedoes as a means to destroy the Defiant outright. ( ) Later that year, Lieutenant Commander Worf destroyed a Klingon civilian transport that suddenly decloaked in front of the Defiant, with a full spread of quantum torpedoes. ( ) In 2373, the used quantum torpedoes in the Battle of Sector 001 to destroy a Borg cube. They were later reused over Earth of 2063 against a Borg sphere that had traveled back in time to sabotage First Contact. Four quantum torpedoes were sufficient to destroy the vessel. ( ) Later that year, Benjamin Sisko ordered Worf to attach a cargo pod containing two hundred kilograms of trilithium resin on to two quantum torpedoes. These torpedoes were designed to detonate in the atmosphere of Solosos III, causing the planet to be uninhabitable for humans, and forcing the Maquis colony there to be evacuated. ( ) In 2374, the utilized quantum torpedoes in its engagement with a Jem'Hadar fighter. ( ) In 2375, the Defiant destroyed a Breen warship with a spread of quantum torpedoes during the Second Battle of Chin'toka, before it was destroyed by the Breen's new energy dampening weapon. ( ) As the new pushed on towards Cardassia Prime, during the final battle of the Dominion War, Worf reported that the ship had used all but forty-five of its quantum torpedoes. ( ) As of 2379, quantum torpedoes had yet to completely replace the photon torpedo on the largest Starfleet vessels. The USS Enterprise-E had only one quantum torpedo bay located on the lowest deck of the saucer module, just forward of the deflector dish. ( ) Background Quantum torpedoes were first mentioned and seen in . According to the script for , the Federation attack fighters attacking the center of the Dominion lines were armed with quantum torpedoes, however, the effect used displayed a yellowish halo instead of the bluish seen elsewhere. Technical Manual The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual states that the basic mechanism of the quantum torpedo was first operated experimentally in 2236. The first warhead application was tested in 2355, afterwards the mass fabrication started. The Federation quantum torpedo model is called "Pho-torp Mark Q-II" and it has a casing differently shaped from the photon torpedo. The quantum warhead relies on rapid energy extraction from vacuum. This is established from an space-time , twisted into a , housed inside the ultraclean vacuum of a 1.38 meter-long teardrop shaped zero-point field reaction chamber. The detonation of a photon torpedo warhead, enriched with fluoronetic vapor, inside the torpedo powers a continuum distortion emitter. It expands the membrane and pinches it out of the background vacuum. The membrane forms into s accompanied by a high-explosive energy release. The Isoton figures given in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual are much smaller than the ones stated on-screen. ( ) The enriched photon warhead for example is rated only at 21.8 isotons and the membrane energy potential upon detonation is rated to be only at least 50 isotons. Propulsion system of the quantum torpedo is a warp sustainer engine and four microfusion thrusters. The engine coils of the warp sustainer grab and hold a hand-off warp field from the torpedo launcher tube's sequential field induction coils. A miniature matter/antimatter fuel cell adds power to the hand-off field. When launched in warp flight, torpedo will continue to travel at warp, when launched at sublight, torpedo will travel at a high sublight speed, but will not cross the warp threshold. The quantum torpedo uses a bio-neural gel processor for flight control, and a thoron web to block countermeasure radiation. Deep Space 9 was armed later on with quantum torpedoes. Class-8 and class-9 probe variants also use the quantum torpedo casing. There are apparently also micro quantum torpedoes. (pg. 77, 82, 85, 86, 130 and Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual pg. 129) Apocrypha Videogame manual for Star Trek: Starfleet Command III explains the origins of the torpedo in detail: : "The quantum torpedo is an advanced heavy weapon developed by Starfleet as a part of its Advanced Defense Initiative to combat Borg incursions. As the photon torpedo reached what many Starfleet researchers agreed was its highest possible explosive yield, a group of engineers at the Starfleet R&D facility on Groombridge 273-2A began investigating methods for achieving a higher release of energy from a projectile of equal dimensions to the photon torpedo." Category:Weapons cs:Kvantové torpédo de:Quantentorpedo